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There was also an article in Wired about this and I'll just say this: the fact the most discussed thing about the new iOS version is how to make their terrible

There was also an article in Wired about this and I'll just say this: the fact the most discussed thing about the new iOS version is how to make their terrible new UI (that no one asked for) off is telling something about the state of innovation at Apple. It's annoying to see apps adapt to the new design, making a lot of the navigation in the top and the bottom worse (and great to see a couple of holdouts like Bluesky). A design philosophy where the full width of the screen is used is pretty good, not sure we needed Apple to prove it with a counter example. Can't wait for them to release iOS 27 and announce they've made a useable UI again. "Hey friends, those accessibility settings you've used for a year? You don't need them anymore. Apple is where innovation happens!!"

xattt 1y ago
“We’ve heard a lot of feedback about the incredible design changes we made in iOS 27. In order to meet the challenges set out by our users, we invented a new type of glass that is both transparent and opaque… at the same time! Physically impossible, you say? Not at Apple.”
- al_borland 1y ago
  There is switchable glass that can change between transparent and opaque. It’s used for some car sunroofs and various other applications. While it’s not “at the same time”, as a theme idea for the OS that has analogs in the physical world, it could be done.
  - brewdad 1y ago
    I've seen this used for the restroom doors at trendy bars. The glass is clear until you lock the door. It then turns opaque while you do your business. Apparently, solid doors made of steel or wood are too last century.
    - msephton 1y ago
      Hotel showers too. When they are transparent they make the room feel bigger.
  - what 1y ago
    I would pay for windows that can do so that so I don’t need curtains.
    - al_borland 1y ago
      It looks like there are adhesive films to add the feature to existing windows, if you don’t want to go all-in on entire windows (which is also an option).
  - xattt 1y ago
    The next UI direction for iOS should be coloured or textured glass (with bubbles or glass block refraction) with dark mode options that mimic uranium- or cerium-doped glass.
itopaloglu83 1y ago
There are a lot of Apple employees here that are going to downvote this but I cannot turn a blind eye to this abomination. I’ve been an early adapter since my first iPhone in 2009. But the new UI is plain ugly, lacking general accessibility, and full of bugs to the point that it’s just user hostile at this point. They broke almost all of their design guidelines and make everything useless bubbles, I just cannot believe that Apple released this ugly thing to billions of devices.
- busymom0 1y ago
  A lot of these UI bugs are also of the kind where once I notice them, I can no longer un-notice them. The border around the Home Screen icons being one. When you swipe up from bottom to go back to Home Screen, the app icon doesn't initially have border while the animation is ongoing. Once the animation finishes, the border suddenly shows up. Once I noticed this, it's been annoying me everytime I swipe to go back. I thought the latest dev beta of iOS would fix this but it's still here.
  - itopaloglu83 1y ago
    Exactly. It’s especially bothering because the previous version had a lot of thought put into it, macOS specifically would allow you to drag a file onto terminal to get its path etc. such small but incredibly powerful things all around. It’s the thought behind the design and its consistency that matters. Instead now we have a phone operating system UI posing as macOS. There’s no proper text alignment, padding, or good margins. It’s just not elegant at all, it feels like a knockoff. The other day, the keyboard stopped showing up in Safari, I was getting an empty keyboard tray when I click into a text input. How in the frozen hell are they able to achieve this level of incompetence. What’s the goal of this, just extract money from people and enshitify everything. I’m just so tied of macOS at this point that I started enjoying my work computer which is Windows 11.
- sys_64738 1y ago
  It's trash and is what happens on a yearly release cadence when you need to have a driver for the release. Sometimes you need to do something. Anything. That's why they have this monstrosity of a UI. Total garbage.
rdtsc 1y ago
> I'll just say this: the fact the most discussed thing about the new iOS version is how to make their terrible new UI (that no one asked for) off is telling something about the state of innovation at Apple. I observed that too. Polled a few people I know who upgraded and they all have the same impression that they'd rather turn it off. I shared the accessibility settings with some to help them out. I haven't upgraded my main phone might have to wait a while longer. This has to be resume driven. I presume designers at Apple have to end the year with a review to justify their salaries. "So Bob, what would you say you do here?". The answer "Well not much, we designed things nicely already, and now we're just chilling, listening to podcasts and having 2 hour lunches" is not going to fly. They want to say something like "That flashy glass thing, we did that!". Except, in this case I wish they'd all just be chilling and having 2 hour long lunches, instead of messing with the interface since they apparently managed to make things worse.
- lesuorac 1y ago
  I assume it's technology driven. The effect is probably expensive to produce so phones with weaker performance can't do it.
  - fodkodrasz 1y ago
    So basically it is to have shorter battery life despite advances in battery technology, and have planned obsolescence? This makes this even more compelling to leave their ecosystem. This is just jumping the shark, as they need to push out something that can be talked about their products, and Apple Intelligence is a flop so far. As the saying goes: “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.”
  - vladvasiliu 1y ago
    I have an iphone 11 (non pro) I use as a GPS. The update works fine on it, I haven't noticed any unusual slowdown. If I'm not mistaken, that's a 6 year-old model, and I think it's the oldest one supported. I can't comment on the battery life, since it's plugged in almost all the time. I haven't noticed any change on my regular phone (14 pro).
- 1y ago
SchemaLoad 1y ago
Isn't this the case for all UI redesigns? When youtube changed to their current design there were posts about browser extensions to restore the old interface. I remember hating it myself at the time yet now I don't have an issue with it and probably prefer it to the old design. Some people are always upset with change.
- IAmGraydon 1y ago
  No. This isn’t about preference for certain aesthetics. The new glass UI elements are objectively worse for readability.
- Telaneo 1y ago
  Change for the sake of change is not a good thing. I'm still mad at Youtube for their redesigns, to the point that I moved over to Freetube, since I found normal Youtube that hostile of an experience.
  - marginalia_nu 1y ago
    Yeah I stopped using Spotify because of their constant UI churn. This was around back when they subtly changed the hue of the Spotify logo for no clear reason. Went to Youtube Music instead, which doesn't seem to ever get updates and likely has been relegated to Google's project limbo. It's fantastic. It's arguably a worse service, but I'll take that over the frustration of having to figure out yet another new and improved music listening experience every other time I open the Spotify app. Ultimately, good design stays out of the way. Design changes is design getting in your face, ... which is the diametric opposite of staying out of the way.
- perryprog 1y ago
  For what it’s worth, I’m definitely leaning “Apple fanboy” and have been amenable to their past UI redesigns. This is the first that I truly think is a regression, and I immediately turned on Reduce Transparency after updating.
- irjustin 1y ago
  > Isn't this the case for all UI redesigns? When youtube changed to their current design there were posts about browser extensions to restore the old interface. Yes but UI redesigns usually involve UX redesign as well. It's not just visual so you actually gain something from it (even if at first it feels like a regression). But liquid glass helps me do what... see my background?....!?
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
postexitus 1y ago
When Windows XP was first released, one of the most requested things were to turn the new skin/theme off and make it look like Windows 98. Similar with all later versions of Windows. I don't like Liquid that much, but I wonder how much of this is actually just getting used to the old stuff.
- magnuspaaske 1y ago
  I think the difference with earlier UI redesigns is that the supposed benefit of liquid glass is the whole opacity thing, where several things are laid on top of each other while trying to show what's underneath. That just creates a much more messy interface, making it harder to see what's going on since they've dropped UI-classics like using contrast to make text readable. That's also why the setting to tune down liquid glass is found in accessibility and not, say, display preferences. I'm a bit too old to have been privvy to any Win XP design backlash, but I think the more apt comparison is with Windows Vista, where transparency was also a major part of the design philosophy (usability be damned). We have pretty good ideas about what makes a good UI/UX and none of those ideas involve using transparency to make readability worse while also not really making what's under the half-transparent element visible or readable.
- Onewildgamer 1y ago
  This feels more like Windows Vista when everybody wanted to switch it off but ultimately switched back to Windows XP until Windows 7 was launched. The liquid glass confuses a lot of folks and it's good when done minimally and not all over the OS.
- IshKebab 1y ago
  Every little change to Facebook was met with huge protests back in the day too (before they learned to do them gradually and also before they trashed it).
- array_key_first 1y ago
  IMO: 1. There's actual value in getting used to things. Part of the reason older people can't use computers well and get scammed is because trendy software companies constantly reshuffle the same stuff and they can't keep up. 2. A lot of UI progression is objectively worse, and I do mean objectively. Less legibility, more clicks to do the same actions, etc. We just get used to back software. iOS 26 is bad software. We might get used to it being bad one day. It's still bad. Similarly, Windows 8 was bad software. We actually undid that one.
Lio 1y ago
> Can't wait for them to release iOS 27 and announce they've made a useable UI again. "Hey friends, those accessibility settings you've used for a year? You don't need them anymore. Apple is where innovation happens!!" I'd actually be impressed if they were that responsive. Fixing a problem is the second best thing after not creating it in the first place. Doubling down and not acknowledging a poor choice would be so much worse.
Daedren 1y ago
Developers have 1 year to apply the new design change, they're forcing it afterwards. It's not really by choice.
- 3D30497420 1y ago
  Can you share more about this? I've only just started developing in SwiftUI, but I do know that some of these changes are automatic based on the components you use not necessarily a specific choice by the app developer. I started developing my app with the prior iOS version, but using standard components. After updating to iOS 26, the glass-effects were automatically added.
  - Daedren 1y ago
    There is a property you can add to your Info.plist called UIDesignRequiresCompatibility. If you set it to yes, you'll retain the pre-26 design. Apple said they'll only keep this working for a year.

xattt 1y ago

“We’ve heard a lot of feedback about the incredible design changes we made in iOS 27. In order to meet the challenges set out by our users, we invented a new type of glass that is both transparent and opaque… at the same time! Physically impossible, you say? Not at Apple.”

al_borland 1y ago
There is switchable glass that can change between transparent and opaque. It’s used for some car sunroofs and various other applications. While it’s not “at the same time”, as a theme idea for the OS that has analogs in the physical world, it could be done.
- brewdad 1y ago
  I've seen this used for the restroom doors at trendy bars. The glass is clear until you lock the door. It then turns opaque while you do your business. Apparently, solid doors made of steel or wood are too last century.
  - msephton 1y ago
    Hotel showers too. When they are transparent they make the room feel bigger.
- what 1y ago
  I would pay for windows that can do so that so I don’t need curtains.
  - al_borland 1y ago
    It looks like there are adhesive films to add the feature to existing windows, if you don’t want to go all-in on entire windows (which is also an option).
- xattt 1y ago
  The next UI direction for iOS should be coloured or textured glass (with bubbles or glass block refraction) with dark mode options that mimic uranium- or cerium-doped glass.

itopaloglu83 1y ago

There are a lot of Apple employees here that are going to downvote this but I cannot turn a blind eye to this abomination. I’ve been an early adapter since my first iPhone in 2009. But the new UI is plain ugly, lacking general accessibility, and full of bugs to the point that it’s just user hostile at this point. They broke almost all of their design guidelines and make everything useless bubbles, I just cannot believe that Apple released this ugly thing to billions of devices.

busymom0 1y ago
A lot of these UI bugs are also of the kind where once I notice them, I can no longer un-notice them. The border around the Home Screen icons being one. When you swipe up from bottom to go back to Home Screen, the app icon doesn't initially have border while the animation is ongoing. Once the animation finishes, the border suddenly shows up. Once I noticed this, it's been annoying me everytime I swipe to go back. I thought the latest dev beta of iOS would fix this but it's still here.
- itopaloglu83 1y ago
  Exactly. It’s especially bothering because the previous version had a lot of thought put into it, macOS specifically would allow you to drag a file onto terminal to get its path etc. such small but incredibly powerful things all around. It’s the thought behind the design and its consistency that matters. Instead now we have a phone operating system UI posing as macOS. There’s no proper text alignment, padding, or good margins. It’s just not elegant at all, it feels like a knockoff. The other day, the keyboard stopped showing up in Safari, I was getting an empty keyboard tray when I click into a text input. How in the frozen hell are they able to achieve this level of incompetence. What’s the goal of this, just extract money from people and enshitify everything. I’m just so tied of macOS at this point that I started enjoying my work computer which is Windows 11.
sys_64738 1y ago
It's trash and is what happens on a yearly release cadence when you need to have a driver for the release. Sometimes you need to do something. Anything. That's why they have this monstrosity of a UI. Total garbage.

rdtsc 1y ago

> I'll just say this: the fact the most discussed thing about the new iOS version is how to make their terrible new UI (that no one asked for) off is telling something about the state of innovation at Apple. I observed that too. Polled a few people I know who upgraded and they all have the same impression that they'd rather turn it off. I shared the accessibility settings with some to help them out. I haven't upgraded my main phone might have to wait a while longer. This has to be resume driven. I presume designers at Apple have to end the year with a review to justify their salaries. "So Bob, what would you say you do here?". The answer "Well not much, we designed things nicely already, and now we're just chilling, listening to podcasts and having 2 hour lunches" is not going to fly. They want to say something like "That flashy glass thing, we did that!". Except, in this case I wish they'd all just be chilling and having 2 hour long lunches, instead of messing with the interface since they apparently managed to make things worse.

lesuorac 1y ago
I assume it's technology driven. The effect is probably expensive to produce so phones with weaker performance can't do it.
- fodkodrasz 1y ago
  So basically it is to have shorter battery life despite advances in battery technology, and have planned obsolescence? This makes this even more compelling to leave their ecosystem. This is just jumping the shark, as they need to push out something that can be talked about their products, and Apple Intelligence is a flop so far. As the saying goes: “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.”
- vladvasiliu 1y ago
  I have an iphone 11 (non pro) I use as a GPS. The update works fine on it, I haven't noticed any unusual slowdown. If I'm not mistaken, that's a 6 year-old model, and I think it's the oldest one supported. I can't comment on the battery life, since it's plugged in almost all the time. I haven't noticed any change on my regular phone (14 pro).
1y ago

SchemaLoad 1y ago

Isn't this the case for all UI redesigns? When youtube changed to their current design there were posts about browser extensions to restore the old interface. I remember hating it myself at the time yet now I don't have an issue with it and probably prefer it to the old design. Some people are always upset with change.

IAmGraydon 1y ago
No. This isn’t about preference for certain aesthetics. The new glass UI elements are objectively worse for readability.
Telaneo 1y ago
Change for the sake of change is not a good thing. I'm still mad at Youtube for their redesigns, to the point that I moved over to Freetube, since I found normal Youtube that hostile of an experience.
- marginalia_nu 1y ago
  Yeah I stopped using Spotify because of their constant UI churn. This was around back when they subtly changed the hue of the Spotify logo for no clear reason. Went to Youtube Music instead, which doesn't seem to ever get updates and likely has been relegated to Google's project limbo. It's fantastic. It's arguably a worse service, but I'll take that over the frustration of having to figure out yet another new and improved music listening experience every other time I open the Spotify app. Ultimately, good design stays out of the way. Design changes is design getting in your face, ... which is the diametric opposite of staying out of the way.
perryprog 1y ago
For what it’s worth, I’m definitely leaning “Apple fanboy” and have been amenable to their past UI redesigns. This is the first that I truly think is a regression, and I immediately turned on Reduce Transparency after updating.
irjustin 1y ago
> Isn't this the case for all UI redesigns? When youtube changed to their current design there were posts about browser extensions to restore the old interface. Yes but UI redesigns usually involve UX redesign as well. It's not just visual so you actually gain something from it (even if at first it feels like a regression). But liquid glass helps me do what... see my background?....!?

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

postexitus 1y ago

When Windows XP was first released, one of the most requested things were to turn the new skin/theme off and make it look like Windows 98. Similar with all later versions of Windows. I don't like Liquid that much, but I wonder how much of this is actually just getting used to the old stuff.

magnuspaaske 1y ago
I think the difference with earlier UI redesigns is that the supposed benefit of liquid glass is the whole opacity thing, where several things are laid on top of each other while trying to show what's underneath. That just creates a much more messy interface, making it harder to see what's going on since they've dropped UI-classics like using contrast to make text readable. That's also why the setting to tune down liquid glass is found in accessibility and not, say, display preferences. I'm a bit too old to have been privvy to any Win XP design backlash, but I think the more apt comparison is with Windows Vista, where transparency was also a major part of the design philosophy (usability be damned). We have pretty good ideas about what makes a good UI/UX and none of those ideas involve using transparency to make readability worse while also not really making what's under the half-transparent element visible or readable.
Onewildgamer 1y ago
This feels more like Windows Vista when everybody wanted to switch it off but ultimately switched back to Windows XP until Windows 7 was launched. The liquid glass confuses a lot of folks and it's good when done minimally and not all over the OS.
IshKebab 1y ago
Every little change to Facebook was met with huge protests back in the day too (before they learned to do them gradually and also before they trashed it).
array_key_first 1y ago
IMO: 1. There's actual value in getting used to things. Part of the reason older people can't use computers well and get scammed is because trendy software companies constantly reshuffle the same stuff and they can't keep up. 2. A lot of UI progression is objectively worse, and I do mean objectively. Less legibility, more clicks to do the same actions, etc. We just get used to back software. iOS 26 is bad software. We might get used to it being bad one day. It's still bad. Similarly, Windows 8 was bad software. We actually undid that one.

Lio 1y ago

> Can't wait for them to release iOS 27 and announce they've made a useable UI again. "Hey friends, those accessibility settings you've used for a year? You don't need them anymore. Apple is where innovation happens!!" I'd actually be impressed if they were that responsive. Fixing a problem is the second best thing after not creating it in the first place. Doubling down and not acknowledging a poor choice would be so much worse.

Daedren 1y ago

Developers have 1 year to apply the new design change, they're forcing it afterwards. It's not really by choice.

3D30497420 1y ago
Can you share more about this? I've only just started developing in SwiftUI, but I do know that some of these changes are automatic based on the components you use not necessarily a specific choice by the app developer. I started developing my app with the prior iOS version, but using standard components. After updating to iOS 26, the glass-effects were automatically added.
- Daedren 1y ago
  There is a property you can add to your Info.plist called UIDesignRequiresCompatibility. If you set it to yes, you'll retain the pre-26 design. Apple said they'll only keep this working for a year.